Apple cancels Rev. Horton Heat event

The band Reverend Horton Heat was invited to play at an Apple store but found the gig a bad fit, with Apple placing some unreasonable demands on the band. The band posted an update on their Facebook page today, explaining how the gig blew up. I found it to be an insightful look at these no-pay corporate gigs:

Reverend Horton Heat
In case you don’t know what happened with Apple….We were supposed to do an in-store appearance at their 1 Polk Street store (Market Street really) on the afternoon of the 14th of July. Of course, they wanted some kind of striped down or acoustic thing. I was working on figuring out what songs would work in that “retail” enviroment. It’s not easy to do a gig like that. It’s completly different than what we do. Of course, it was for publicity only – ie no pay. There was going to be a Q&A with the people in attendence. They wanted to record the thing and make it a podcast. All fine, except then, I found out that they wanted me to come up with an MC and figure the whole thing out – not exactly welcoming. It kind of seemed that they wanted us to play for free, set the whole thing up and get ourselves there too without doing too much to make the event a success. Getting ourselves there is hard because we have an upright bass. It would be impossible and expensive for us to bring the bus with trailer. Anyway, I made a post on facebook about how it wasn’t right to throw everything on the artist instead of doing they’re best to welcome us. That was bad and I’m a bad, bad man evidentally. They got on the phone to our agent and said that they didn’t like the post. Later that day, I took the facebook post down – maybe I shouldn’t have, but I did. Then, today, I hear that they canceled the event. They didn’t call me. I just heard. So, my preparation was for nothing. I think that anytime an artist is coming to your store (and they’re bringing their fans into your enviroment where you are trying to sell something), you should be especially appreciative. The Mom and Pop stores, now closed down forever, used to go out of their way to make us feel comfortable and wanted. Those days are gone forever…evidentally. Call the store if you can. Ask them why.

Letters to Grandma: 13 August 1989

[Note: Read this post first for an introduction.]

I sent this letter a month before my first deployment, PACEX 89. I had just completed my first foreign port call at CFB Esquimalt, outside of Victoria, though I never updated Grandma on that visit. Probably because I remember so little of it.

You can see me already griping about sea life, but by the end of my tour I became quite attached to it. I simply didn’t care much for being the low man on the totem pole or living in a cramped, crowded berthing area all the time. You can also see my discomfort with California though, like life at sea, it would also come to grow on me.

I had forgotten that at this point I thought I would study law. That didn’t last too long (as did studying anything in college – besides the women!).

From:
J.M. Turner
USS Elliot (DD-967) OZ
FPO San Francisco, CA 96664-1205

13 August 1989 [age:20]

Dear Grandma,

Sorry it’s been so long since you heard from me. Last week marked the beginning of “refresher training,” three weeks of drills, drills, and more drills – the biggest test I’ve had since boot camp, I guess. The first week didn’t kill me so there’s hope. I must say I’ve learned (or “remembered”) more last week than I have since I got to San Diego.
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Cheap thoughts: treadmills

I was walking on our treadmill today and wondering why it has such a big-ass motor on it. What does a motor really add to a treadmill, anyway? Besides a hundred pounds?

Shouldn’t the act of walking or running on the tread be enough to simulate a walk or a run? Do you ever see stationary bikes with motors on them? No, you don’t, because the pedaling is what makes things move.

It seems all a motor does is enforce a certain pace. When you run on the road, you don’t do that with a pace car riding right behind you, threatening to run you over if you don’t keep pace. You can speed up or slow down as it suits you. So why use a motor to set a rigid pace when on the real road this doesn’t happen?

I don’t see why a treadmill couldn’t simply have a tread on a low-friction set of rollers and perhaps an odometer to tell the user her speed. It sure would be a hell of a lot easier getting it up and down stairs!

Wade CAC heats up again

Things heated up again in the Wade CAC last night. Accusations are flying and fingers pointing. It’s crazy and hard to figure out. I’m not choosing sides, I’m not going to sort out the he-said-she-said, but I’m simply trying to carry out a fair election. While some have asked me to put things off, I will make no decision on my own but will submit to the direction of the CAC. It’s really all about the citizens.

The whole event is stressing the hell out of me, truth be told. I wish there was more harmony but wishing alone ain’t gonna make it happen. Whomever does win the election will have to contend with the big job of patching up the community. I wish them well!

redhat.com | The first [open source] American

Back in 2006, Red Hat Magazine published an article on Ben Franklin from Amy Anseim which claims that Franklin was the first open source American. Franklin would’ve been right at home with the open source movement that we know today. Not only today’s open source proponents, but all of society owes a debt to Franklin for his devotion to the free exchange of knowledge and information.

Kids know him as the guy flying a kite in a lightning storm. Adults know him as the face on the hundred dollar bill. Historians know him as"The first American." His achievements and contributions to mankind, particularly to the fledgling United States of America, have shaped much of what we do on a daily basis, from the clauses of the Constitution to the maxims of Poor Richard’s Almanack.

But all of Ben Franklin’s ideas, actions, and contributions can be linked back to his own ideals. An appreciation of community. A love of truth. His belief in an inherent responsibility to his fellow man.

Franklin was truly ahead of his time. He wasn’t just the first American, he was the first open source American.

Freedom. Transparency. Collaboration. Accountability. Sound familiar? This was how he lived his life and impacted society.

via redhat.com | The first [open source] American.

Letters to Grandma: 05 March 1988

[Note: Read this post first for an introduction.]

This was the first letter I wrote to Grandma while I was in the Navy. Reading it again, I found my description of boot camp surprisingly apt: “long days and short weeks.”

At the time I had no real clue what a cryptologic technician did but my guess wasn’t too far off. What I didn’t know at the time was before I would leave boot camp, my “A” school would be switched from Pensacola to Ft. Devens, MA. I still got to “P-cola” after A-school but it wasn’t as much time to visit Grandma as I had first anticipated.

1300 05 March 88 [age:19]

Postmarked Orlando, FL

From:
SR TURNER USN xxx-xx-xxxx
C096 DIV 3
RTC ORLANDO, FL 32813-6100

Dear Grandma,

Hello from Orlando! I am enjoying my stay here at Disneyworld, but after three weeks here, I still haven’t seen Mickey…

Funny, but even though I’ve been here for 3 weeks, it seems like yesterday when I was a civilian. The best way to describe it here is the days are long and the weeks are short. When I “pass in review” on April 7th, I’ll wonder where the time went.
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Letters to Grandma: July 10, 1981

[Note: Read this post first for an introduction.]

This is a lively letter, to be sure. Today I have no idea now what the “gimmie five” stuff was all about.

Charlie and Krista are my Florida cousins.

July 10, 1981 [age:12]
10:57 AM

Dear Grandma,

Thank you for keeping us noisy, bratty kids over at your house. I bet you’re glad to have the television all to yourself! Sorry we used up all your paper! Gimmie “five” from you and “five” from Krista and “five” from Charlie and send it all in a check down to my house.

Ha-Ha!! Well, “good numbers” to ya (love and kisses in CB talk) and I hope your headache has gone away (ME).

Your Grandson,
John Mark Turner [signed]

[below is an ink spot]
My Pen Busted.

[in big letters at the bottom]
FSU

Letters to Grandma

An unexpected package arrived in the mail for me today from my Aunt Nancy. In it was a bundle of letters I had written to my grandmother over the years. Aunt Nancy had collected them and mailed them out to their respective authors.

My aunt also included a note, part of which reads:

“In this age of electronic communications, there may not be much of a permanent record of your life. But, these letters are part of your history. You can enjoy them … or throw them away. I just thought you should be the one to make that decision.”

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Benjamin Franklin

Last week Netflix delivered us a DVD that neither Kelly nor I could remember adding to our queue. It was the PBS documentary on Benjamin Franklin and it offered just the thing to do on a hot Fourth of July.

Ben Franklin was born to invent. He invented constantly and reinvented himself constantly as well. He was intensely curious and never afraid to fly by the seat of his pants, comfortable with figuring things out as he went. Without his unique skills, the United States would not exist.

The more I learn about Franklin, the more I admire him. The documentary really brought him to life, too. It reminded me again how Franklin was one of the greatest Americans ever.

I’ll have to find time to read his autobiography.